Most current design approach being discussed by the project team for a living shoreline at Durham's Wagon Hill Farm

Rendering produced by: SRPC
Photo taken by: Craig Stevens, DCAT 22 Coordinator
Planning
One of the efforts supported by SRPC's Fiscal Year 2019 Coastal Program grant is Durham's Wagon Hill Living Shorelines project. SRPC began working with the town in 2016 to help visualize a future shoreline at Wagon Hill Farm. Durham decided to implement a “living shoreline,” which is a stabilization technique that uses a variety of structural and organic materials such as wetland plants, submerged aquatic vegetation, oyster reefs, coir fiber logs, sand fill, and stone.
 
In 2016, SPRC created the poster "What Could a Living Shoreline at Wagon Hill Farm Look Like?" . The town still uses it for outreach purposes. Last week, Shayna Sylvia, communications and outreach specialist, finished updating the poster to reflect the most current design approach being discussed by the project team. That poster can be viewed here .
 
Both posters will be displayed at the town's Durham Day event at Wagon Hill Farm on Saturday, Sept. 22. The event will feature a free c ommunity BBQ, boat tours, information booths, family activities, live music, and more!
 
For more information on Durham's Living Shorelines project, contact Kyle Pimental, SRPC principal regional planner, at kpimental@strafford.org or at 603-994-3500.

Pieces of Interest


Transportation
On Tuesday, regional transportation planner Colin Lentz will join engineers, planners, and public safety officials from NHDOT and Somersworth in a road safety audit at the intersection of Old Rochester and Blackwater roads. The intersection has been the site of several serious and fatal crashes in recent years, and the audit will help in the development of a range of potential safety improvements there.
 
Typically, no local funds are required to participate in the state’s road safety audit program, which targets such sites and includes an on-the-ground engineering review. Applications for road safety audits are due every Dec. 1, but it’s never a bad time to reach out to the Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization staff to review local highway safety hazards and start an application. NHDOT has a dedicated safety section that is very responsive to safety hazards on New Hampshire’s roads.
 
The state maintains a one-page overview of the audit safety program on line, and the NHDOT safety website has additional information .
 
Contact Colin at clentz@strafford.org or at 603-994-3500 for more information or for examples of road safety audits in the region. 


Pieces of Interest

Economic Development
Strafford Economic Development District (Strafford EDD) will hold a joint meeting with the Strafford Regional Planning Commission (SRPC) on Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Rochester Performing Arts Center, 32 North Main St. Sarah Wrightsman, executive director of the Workforce Housing Coalition (WHC) of the Greater Seacoast, and Chris Parker, Dover’s assistant city manager, will speak about affordable housing from different points of view. Chris will address what a community can do to create a zoning environment conducive to affordable housing options, while Sarah will talk about the WHC’s outreach, advocacy, and technical assistance to encourage affordable housing.

The SRPC/EDD meeting falls in the middle of the WHC’s Rochester Housing Workshop, which takes place on Sept. 26 and 28.
 
Stay tuned to www.strafford.org for more information about the meeting. 


Pieces of Interest


Strafford Regional Planning Commission | 603-994-3500 | srpc@strafford.org | www.strafford.org
August 24, 2018